Royal Caribbean Signs Letter of Intent to Build New Generation of Ships

[will773]

The bigger issue with width is not at the waterline, but at the bridge. Anything much wider than 125 ft won't fit through the MW building dock doors. FOS is 180+ at the bridge

 

I've been thinking about this as well. These must be some long and skinny ships...:confused:

[DanJ]

Or the bridge can be added once the ship is outside maybe? Isn't this the yard that built the Epic? How did they do the bridge on that one?

[wgraves]

I didn't read through all 9 pages of posts, so maybe this has already been discussed. But the new class is barely larger than the Freedom class but holds an extra 500 people? Makes me concerned about overcrowding.

[orville99]

Or the bridge can be added once the ship is outside maybe? Isn't this the yard that built the Epic? How did they do the bridge on that one?

 

 

No. The last ship MW built for NCL was the Pearl. The two new ones they have on the books for delivery in 2013 and 2014 are long, skinny ships. The Disney Dream at 125 ft is the widest ship they've ever built.

 

MW has an artists rendering of the NCL newbuilds on its website.

 

"The two next-generation cruise ships tailored to NCL's freestyle cruising concept will be delivered in the spring of 2013 and 2014. Each of the 143,500-gt ships will have a capacity of more than 4,000 passengers, and will offer a broad range of different cabin types. The ships will be the biggest cruise ships ever built in Germany."

 

I expect the new Sunshine class will have similar lines.

[UNV-IT!!!]

All this speculation. :rolleyes:

[negc]

I didn't read through all 9 pages of posts, so maybe this has already been discussed. But the new class is barely larger than the Freedom class but holds an extra 500 people? Makes me concerned about overcrowding.

 

Compared to similar sized ships belonging to other cruiselines that carry even more passengers, RCI ships rarely appear to be crowded. The designs of their ships do a masterful job of dispersing guests throughout the ship and passenger flow seems to lack the bottlenecks that create that 'crowded' feeling on other ships. I prefer to believe that RCI's ship design personnel will once again come up with a design that accommodates those extra passengers without sacrificing comfort of everyone onboard. Prior to the introduction of Oasis and Allure the predominant opinion of most was that the ships would be "too big" and "too crowded". When the ships debuted there was general agreement (and much surprise) that neither description seemed accurate. The same could well prove true about the Sunshine ships.

[orville99]

All this speculation. :rolleyes:

 

True, but speculation based on sound physics. Anything wider/higher than the MW building dock doors/canal/river EMS locks cannot physically be delivered if it was built at MW, so the only way to increase capacity is to increase length. In order to get the Disney Dream (largest MW newbuild to date - same length, same passenger capacity/ but 60 ft narrower than FOS) out to sea, they even had to dismantle a bridge over the EMS becasue she wouldn't fit underneath.

[UNV-IT!!!]

Then why use mw? Why not use the same yard again as oasis/allure?

True, but speculation based on sound physics. Anything wider/higher than the MW building dock doors/canal/river EMS locks cannot physically be delivered if it was built at MW, so the only way to increase capacity is to increase length. In order to get the Disney Dream (largest MW newbuild to date - same length, same passenger capacity/ but 60 ft narrower than FOS) out to sea, they even had to dismantle a bridge over the EMS becasue she wouldn't fit underneath.

[Cruising89143]

Then why use mw? Why not use the same yard again as oasis/allure?

 

 

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

[orville99]

Then why use mw? Why not use the same yard again as oasis/allure?

 

Don't have a clue, but since they chose MW for the newbuilds, its kind of a moot point;)

[UNV-IT!!!]

Thought their relationship with the last yard was so solid after allure. Really surprised they are using someone else, but considering all the yards really do is assemble the ship guess it doesn't really matter.

[orville99]

Thought their relationship with the last yard was so solid after allure. Really surprised they are using someone else, but considering all the yards really do is assemble the ship guess it doesn't really matter.

 

 

I think its a toss up. MW is building all of the Celebrity Solstice class ships, and built all of the Radiance class ships, so my guess is that they have the expertise necessary to build a world class long skinny ship that holds 4,000+ passengers w/o feeling cramped.;)

[Rstamper]

Maybe it'll be a water coaster, the Aqua <insert DreamWorks character name here> that will account for the extra weight. :D

 

I would love to see a water coaster or a lazy river on the new ship! Was on the Allure a couple of weeks ago and the Disney Dream was parked next to us. The water coaster was cool and looked so fun!

[UNV-IT!!!]

ahh ok i didnt know this. i wasnt saying they cant build a quality ship. the dream is amazing. I just meant the way rccl was blowing up the previous yard on how amazing they were in all their allure vids i figured they would have them build the next. unless they are working on projects for other people?

I think its a toss up. MW is building all of the Celebrity Solstice class ships, and built all of the Radiance class ships, so my guess is that they have the expertise necessary to build a world class long skinny ship that holds 4,000+ passengers w/o feeling cramped.;)

[wgraves]

Compared to similar sized ships belonging to other cruiselines that carry even more passengers, RCI ships rarely appear to be crowded. The designs of their ships do a masterful job of dispersing guests throughout the ship and passenger flow seems to lack the bottlenecks that create that 'crowded' feeling on other ships.

 

What about lunch hour in the Windjammer on a Freedom class ship? :rolleyes:

[CaptData]

I would like to see H/C rooms with 4 pax in it. It would fit a same family that way including an H/\c person. Right some will fit 3 but if you have 4 in family you need two rooms.

[orville99]

What about lunch hour in the Windjammer on a Freedom class ship? :rolleyes:

 

We've never found WJ on FOS to be crowded. What we see is everyone queuing up at the stations nearest the entrance to WJ. We always walk around those crowds and go to one of the stations in the back and there are rarely any back-ups.

[mo&fran]

I think its a toss up. MW is building all of the Celebrity Solstice class ships, and built all of the Radiance class ships, so my guess is that they have the expertise necessary to build a world class long skinny ship that holds 4,000+ passengers w/o feeling cramped.;)

 

There was a post that claimed the new hull would be based on the Solistice hull.

[mjldvlks]

There was a post that claimed the new hull would be based on the Solistice hull.

I think those comments were based mostly on pre-announcement speculation, and I am not sure what you mean by "based on." Since the Sunshine ships will be about 30% larger than the Solstice class, you would think there will have to be some pretty significant differences. You never know, but I would be surprised if they just took the Solstice plans and increased everything by 30%.

 

Of course we are all guessing.

[Pomperaugrr]

I am fairly confident that the MW Shipyard knows what it can build and deliver to RCI. I'm not losing any sleep over the size speculation.

 

Eric

[orville99]

There was a post that claimed the new hull would be based on the Solistice hull.

 

 

That's pretty much a given, since the Solstice class hull is as wide and tall as MW can build. If the Sunshine class is slated to be 30% larger, then it can only be done one way - a lot longer;)

[mo&fran]

But look at how similar Radiance compared to Millenium. Width and length are typical Panamax, but just looking at some features I just thought there were a lot of similarities, and not just the gas turbine power.

[orville99]

But look at how similar Radiance compared to Millenium. Width and length are typical Panamax, but just looking at some features I just thought there were a lot of similarities, and not just the gas turbine power.

 

I believe every ship now being built in that MW hall is classified as "post-panamax".

[Solstice23]

Here is the article on Seatrader. I'm surprised that it's Meyer and not STX. So much for RCI using the Solstice class hull. I'm a happy guy. I'm glad that they didn't go as small as the Solstice class.

 

http://www.cruise-community.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4983&catid=910&Itemid=69

 

Love the Solstice class its our favorite class of ship out there! We will Sail RCCL again of course we love them too but only on Oasis or Allure for the Dining choices and entertainment!

 

I would rather sail on Solstice class over the radiance Class now, so looking forward to the new class!!!

[negc]

What about lunch hour in the Windjammer on a Freedom class ship? :rolleyes:

We were on Liberty in November and ate lunch in the Windjammer without encountering serious crowding problems. I think that allowing Suite guests to bring their food into Chops at lunchtime helps reduce crowding and if you head all the way back to the food stations beyond those at the front of the WJ, there is more room than might first appear to be the case. Freedom class ships also offer several alternative dining options so that not everyone has to go to the Windjammer for their lunch.